Many Thanks

It’s hard to believe that a year ago today Jared and I left the comforts of Hong Kong for life on the road. It was an amazing trip that took months of saving, researching countries, planning routes, and the many other technicalities that come with a long cycle trip. But all of that hard work would have been in vain if not for the many people that helped us before and during our trip. A year later we would like to take a quick moment to express our thanks to all of those people that made ReAsia 2014 a cycle tour that will never be forgotten.

Anne and Andy Bibel. Thank you for the new Garmin! It did more than just keep us on the right road, it let us know how high we were climbing, how far we had to go, and even what time the sun rose and set.

Peter & Jane Eichten. Thanks for the new tent! We would have been in deep [email protected]#t if not for that.

PJ & Jen Eichten. Thank you for the tarp. That came in handy more than once, especially while in a small blizzard at 3,000m!

Tom & Claire McCloy. Thank for the Spot. It was nice to let family know we were alive and okay even when we couldn’t get to the internet.

Grace Jung. Thank you for the areo press and grinder. Mornings would not have been pretty without our coffee!

Clayton & Audra Stave. Thank you for the REI mugs, bowls, sporks, and knives. Dinner would have been substantially harder without these essentials.

To all of those who gave us a warm bed (or floor or couch), a hot shower, and delicious food!

Our awesome friend “Alpha Jared” for a great trip launch pad

Mary and David, Guangzhou, China

Chris and his Kiwi friends, Kangding and Chengdu, China

Yanni and Kelly, Zhangye China

Kashin and his wife, Kazakhstan

Sanaba, Isfara, Tajikistan

Murat, Elazığ, Turkey

Kürşat, Tatvan, Turkey

Guys in Van

Berna, Kars, Turkey

Merve and her father, Trabzon, Turkey

Ramazan, Tunç and family, Batın, Turkey

Özlem, Ankara, Turkey

Halil and Yasemin, Çanakkale, Turkey

Erdal and wife, Dikili, Turkey

Bircan, Soma, Turkey

Kayhan, Balıkesir, Turkey

Ahmet and Sevil, Bursa, Turkey

The strangers we met along the way, who have turned to life long friends.

Kieran and Marley. We met these two in Dushanbe, Tajikistan while waiting for our Pamir permits. An experience that unites people for a life time! We then traveled the first four days of the Pamir highway with them.

Kerem and Sevda. We met them at the bike festival in Bartın and hit it off immediately. They were a great couple to ride with and chat to. They also stayed around Bartın after Jared’s accident to make sure he was okay. Then they set us up with our place to stay in Çanakkale.

Nimet and her husband. After the accident in Bartın, we needed to head to Ankara and planned on taking the bus. On our way to the bus station, we got a call saying Nimet and her husband, who we met at the festival, were heading there and offered us a ride. Saved us not only the bus fee, but gave us a much more entertaining ride to Ankara.

Veronic. Gave us up to date information on the Pamir permits daily. We then got the chance to meet her and her eight year old son cycling tandem across the Pamirs. Impressive!

To all the other cyclists in Bartın who helped us after Jared hurt himself!! Especially Ramazan and Ümit!

And last but not least, the random people who gave random stuff.

The family who gave us bags full of cherries while we camped in their cherry farm on the boarder of Uzbekistan.

The random guy who gave us 1 USD because he learned we were recently married.

And to the kid, who spoke almost perfect English, that brought us fresh made naan bread while we were on the Pamir highway. He had offered us to sleep at his house but we had to turn him down his invitation because we were already set up.

And a humongous thanks goes to Michael and Louisa Mitchell. While Jared and I were off gallivanting around Central Asia, Mike and Louisa were setting up shop in Chiang Mai and getting everything settled for us once we arrived. They got our house sorted, had the internet set up, and even had a scooter for us to use the day we arrived. The transition to “normal” life would have been much more difficult without their help and a huge thank you goes out to them.